This is awesome, now I can switch between work and home with just a tap.
Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions
51–60 of 115 posts
Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions
#52App not available in my country (Australia)
Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions
#53By the way, you can trigger iOS shortcuts with NFC tags, so in principle you can trigger any functionality exposed as a Shortcut action. However, NFC recognition doesn’t always work as smoothly as one would hope.
It depends on the type and manufacturer of the NFC chip. I recommend using SLIX2 chips; they are a bit more expensive, but they work perfectly.
Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions
#54Cool idea, wanted to try it out but it's not available in my country. Any reason for this? :)
Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions
#55I'm curious why the NFC tags are required at all? Can't you switch profiles on your phone without scanning an NFC tag already? Couldn't your app allow profile switching without requiring any NFC tags? It's not clear to me what the NFC tags add to this experience.
NFC tags cost about 20 cents and they are easy to use, tied to a place, etc.
I've done a lot of thinking about cyberphysical art that used to look like
https://mastodon.social/@UP8/111013706271196029
and now look like
https://bsky.app/profile/up-8.bsky.social/post/3lbqfh7pesc2x
Notably with the QR code on the back I found people didn't understand the branding of the card and had to flip it over to know the affordances it offers which didn't work when the card was stuck to the wall, as in
https://bsky.app/profile/up-8.bsky.social/post/3lbftgz6kok2c
I researched NFC tags as an option here and bought a 100 pack and a Sony FeliCa reader but found the problem of "communicating the affordance is available" was much worse, there's no standard logo (except one that belongs to the banks that they wouldn't give me permission to use) and not much awareness. I was irritated that NFC support is limited in iPads, for instance. So I stuck with QR codes that people understand.
Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions
#56Very cool; wondering if this could work as a parental control. "screen time" on iOS is fundamentally broken, and something like this would require the child to come to the parent for screen time extensions (if the parent has the NFC chip).
Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions
#57This is really cool! I know developing apple apps is expensive, how can I donate?
Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions
#58would it be possible to trigger profiles with Bluetooth Beacons?
Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions
#59Very cool! I was about to pay $50 to do this with Brick. What's the best way to support the project?
Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions
#60So this is just a wrapper for Automations and Profiles (or how Apple calls it: Focus).
But i like the idea to make such features accessible to the everyone and not only people who geek out on their phone.
As others pointed out you should implement qr codes which would make it even more usable.